"When American men began to go to war by the hundreds of thousands, women took up the slack. They filled the jobs men left open, planted Victory Gardens, sold war bonds, worked with the Red Cross, and conserved food and fuel. But women had never been allowed in the army. They didn’t even have the right to vote.
These women went to war anyway. They loved their country and wanted to help win the war and to support the boys in the trenches.
They faced the dangers and hardships of war without complaining. Almost all the Signal Corps women worked and hoped to be sent as near the front as possible."
https://plumfieldmoms.com/plumfield-moms-picture-book-reviews/grace-banker-and-her-hello-girls-answer-the-call-the-heroic-story-of-wwi-telephone-operators